It's always good to know a place that's open 24/7. Especially if the place is known as a 'best of'. La Banquise is known as the best poutine place in Montreal. 

What is poutine, you ask? It's a Quebecois dish, which consists of potato chips with gravy and cheese curds in its most basic form. Not something you would have every day, but something you may crave once in a while, especially after a hard night out on a weekend, for example. 

Early in the evening, there was already a line that stretched almost around the corner of the street. We saw policemen getting their shares to takeaway. Most of the people wanted to dine in, but we thought we'd take it back to our hostel. Perhaps a big mistake. These poutines are best eaten hot, since those cheese curds tend to harden pretty quickly. They were heavy, too, and with the sauce overflowing and dripping down, it wasn't the happiest trek back home, unfortunately. 

Poutines in general are not the yummiest food in the world. The cheese especially taste plasticky to me, and that's from having tasted the dish from several institutions around the world. They are meant to take plastic-like. But when you're hungry and cold, a heavy dish like poutine fills you up quite nicely. 

La Banquise

994 Rue Rachel Est

Montreal, QC H2J2J3